no title

Editorial

At long last, some action

Interim superintendent moves quickly to repair city schools

About our Editorials

Dispatch editorials express the view of the
Dispatch editorial board, which is made up of the publisher, the president of
The Dispatch, the editor and the editorial-writing staff. As is the traditional newspaper
practice, the editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the newspaper.
Comments and questions should be directed to the
editorial page editor.

Also in Opinion

Subscribe to The Dispatch

Already a subscriber?
Enroll in EZPay and get a free gift!
Enroll now.

Wednesday July 24, 2013 5:33 AM

What a difference new leadership can make. In just three weeks, interim Superintendent Dan Good
has done more to clean up the scandal-ridden Columbus school district than former Superintendent
Gene Harris and the school board did in a year.

In the final year of Harris’ tenure, which concluded in June, investigations into data-rigging
grew steadily, with inside and outside auditors reporting mounting evidence of how attendance data
and grades were manipulated by district employees. The cheating made the district look better on
state report cards and might have resulted in undeserved bonuses for some educators, even as it
deprived some children of extra help that a true picture of the school’s failures could have
triggered.

Internal Auditor Carolyn Smith even provided Harris with a list of 30 employees at nine schools
who improperly changed data.

But the only employees to leave, despite the widening scandal, were three of the figures most
inescapably linked to it, all of whom resigned or retired early.

Now, barely settled into his new job, Good has made it clear to employees who were involved in
improper data changes that they are expected to leave or face being fired.

“Where there are supported allegations of unethical behavior, we are taking action to remove
them from the district,” Good said. Good said he has advised those employees to leave rather than
be removed, and he’s lining up replacements for their positions.

In addition, Good has said he plans to cut up to eight high-level administrative positions,
saving $1.5 million per year, and relocate many central-office “support staff” out to school
buildings, where they can directly help teachers and principals.

This is exactly the sort of decisive action that has been woefully lacking from Harris and from
the Board of Education, which has done little to acknowledge the seriousness of the scandal, let
alone respond to it vigorously. In fact, the board hired outside attorneys to “manage” the scandal,
including, says Ohio Auditor Dave Yost, obstructing his investigation. The district also is under
investigation by the FBI.

Good has talked to principals and other leaders at schools where improper changes were made, and
he has interviewed other administrators about what the investigations have revealed so far.

That simple initiative is what has been needed to move the district forward, out of the rut in
which the year-long scandal has mired it. Employees report that morale among the staff has
plummeted; that’s little wonder, with scandal and the likelihood of criminal charges hanging
overhead. Such a situation would be difficult for employees no matter what, but allowing so much
time to pass with so little resolution has made it worse.

So Good is right to put a thorough housecleaning high on his priority list.

He is establishing clearly that the district no longer will harbor those willing to cheat. That’s
the best way to tell remaining employees — those trying to do the hard work of actually achieving
academic progress — that their work is valued and appreciated. And he is seeking greater efficiency
by reassigning personnel as needed.

Whenever Yost and the FBI complete their investigations, even if criminal proceedings are
brought against some employees, the public will know that Columbus City Schools already is working
to right what was wrong.